About Me

I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Sunday, January 31, 2016

March Violets by Philip Kerr

(2.
– 844.) March Violets by Philip Kerr
– A trio of Bernie Gunther thrillers titled Berlin
Noir had been waiting for too long on a shelf in the den next to my desk.
It rested there as I had a lingering desire but no urgency to read the book.
Going on vacation to Mexico at the beginning of January encourage me to pack Berlin Noir as I would have three books
within the covers of one volume.

March Violets is set in
Berlin at the time of the 1936 Olympics and brought to mind In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
about William E. Dodd and his family in Berlin at the same time. Dodd was the
American ambassador to Germany. It took years of constant contact for the Dodd
family to appreciate the cruelty and danger in Nazi Germany that Bernie lived
each day.

Bernie
drew me in with his sardonic, often crude, never subtle wit. His personality
compels him to mock every situation. Such an attitude, while entertaining to
the reader, provokes the recepients of his comments. Fortunately, Bernie is big
enough and tough enough to deal with the consequences.

Still
Bernie is not suicidal. He restrains his tongue while meeting with senior Nazi
leaders. He is actually respectful in the presence of Hermann Goering. (When no
Nazis are around Bernie refers to him as “Fat Hermann”.)

The
Gestapo and SS already dominate life in Germany by 1936. It has been three
years since the Nazis took power. Everyone lives and talks carefully for all
are at risk of being whisked away to a KZ (concentration camp).

In
a police state I wondered what need can there be for a private investigator.
Yet there is a real need. Much of Bernie’s time is taken up with searching for
missing persons, especially Jewish Germans. As well, the wealthy need determined
investigators. Bernie has three virtues his clients prize. He is discreet and
confidential and is not an official of the State.

Hermann
Six, a Ruhr steel magnate, summons Bernie to his home. He tells Bernie that his
daughter, Grete, and her husband, Paul, have been murdered and their home
burned. Taken from their safe was a very valuable diamond necklace. Grete’s
estate went to Paul. Paul bequeathed his whole estate to the Reich. Six has not
reported the necklace stolen because he is appalled by the thought the necklace
would go to the German government as part of Paul’s estate. To encourage Bernie,
Six will pay a generous 70 marks a day and, if the necklace is recovered,
promises Bernie 37,500 marks (5% of its insured value).

The
next evening Bernie receives a summons from Ilse Rudel, the sultry movie
actress, who is Six’s much younger second wife. She is very interested in
Bernie’s investigation. To gain his confidence she invites him into her bed. He
but briefly hesitates. After their frolic she is angry and disbelieving when
Bernie tells her that she is not the subject of his investigation.

Bernie
seeks out jewelers who might be willing to deal with such a special necklace. The
quest takes him into the heart of Nazi evil. Jews, desperate to leave Germany,
are lined up at jewelers selling their family gems for a fraction of their real
value.

Inevitably,
the investigation encounters Nazi bureaucracy. There is more to the original
robbery than Bernie realized. He receives an invitation to meet with Goering
who also wants Bernie’s discretion and confidentiality and unofficial status.
There is a distinct tone of menace should Bernie fail Goering.

Abundant
violence accompanies Bernie. It is a book with a lot of bodies. Unlike some
thrillers the violence does not feel gratuitous. Aggression and death are very
much a part of the culture of Nazi Germany.

Noir
does not always attract me but I was fascinated by Bernie, the fomer Berlin
police officer, functioning in the midst of the Nazi regime. How does a man
preserve his integrity in a nation that has abandoned the principle? Compromise
is prudent but it is a difficult concept for Bernie. In March Violets his honour is battered. I will see how Bernie fares
two years later in the second book, The
Pale Criminal, as the Nazis impose ever more strongly their twisted vision
on German society.

6 comments:

Bernie Gunther is a fascinating character, isn't he, Bill? I noticed, too, when I read this, that although there is a great deal of violence in the novel, it really doesn't feel gratuitous or contrived. Sadly, it feels authentic. I also thought Kerr did a very effective job evoking the culture of the time and place.

Best book I've read this past year. Evocative, and exceptionally descriptive. At times crude, but in a tasteful way. I read after returning from Berlin and Budapest (not quite Wien, but close) and I think he excellently captured the differences and sensibilities of the Prussians/Barvarians/Austrians. I'm looking forward to reading more of his stories.

mike: Thanks for the comment. High praise to be your best book in the past year. As you have lived in Germany and traveled through German speaking Europe I was glad to hear your thoughts on the authenticity of the Germanic peoples. It is time I looked up more of his books.